Camerata Kilkenny

Founded by the Irish harpsichordist and organist Malcolm Proud and the Swiss violinist Maya Homburger, Camerata Kilkenny is a period instrument group specialising in the performance of Baroque music alt-hough many of its programmes combine 17th and 18th century music with the works of contemporary composers. Camerata Kilkenny is regularly joined by guest artists including the Dutch soprano Lenneke Ruiten, the baroque flautist Wilbert Hazelzet (Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra), the Swiss cellist Thomas Demenga, Calmus Ensemble (Leipzig), Rachel Beckett (principal flute English Baroque Soloists), Sebastien Marq (recorder player with Les Arts Florissant) and most recently by the Croatian baroque violinist Bojan Cicic (Academy of Ancient Music) at the 2015 Kilkenny Arts Festival.

Camerata Kilkenny gave its début recital at the Kilkenny Arts Festival in August 1999 since when it has performed in Switzerland (Zurich, Bern), Austria (St. Gerold, Maria Enzersdorf), Germany, Belgium, Esto-nia, Latvia and in Ireland at the West Cork Chamber Music Festival, the Sligo Festival of Baroque Music, the Festival of Great Irish Houses, the Galway Early Music Festival, the East Cork Early Music Festival ‘Mu-sic in the Mosaics’ in Timoleague, the Kilkenny Arts Festival, the Hugh Lane Gallery and at the Barrow Riv-er Arts Festival.

In April 2010 Camerata Kilkenny and Wilbert Hazelzet took part in the CC Maasmechelen Festival in Bel-gium following which they recorded (with funding from the Music Network/Irish Arts Council Music Re-cording Scheme) Bach’s ‘Musical Offering’. It was released on the Maya Recordings label in January 2011 and has received excellent reviews throughout Ireland, Europe and North America. Their first CD of Bib-er’s Mystery Sonatas with violinist Maya Homburger was listed in the prestigious German music industry ‘Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik’ awards in 2007.

In March 2012 Camerata Kilkenny performed a programme of Bach at the Barrow River Arts Festival fol-lowed by a tour to Amsterdam, Paris and Leuven (Belgium). In May 2013 they joined forces with the Cal-mus Ensemble of Leipzig for concerts in Kilkenny and Dublin as part of the cultural programme in honour of Ireland’s Presidency of the E.U. Council of Ministers. In Autumn 2013 they toured Switzerland and in the Spring of 2014 they again performed with the Calmus Ensemble in Switzerland, CC Maasmachelan, Belgium (as curators and ensemble in residence of the Bachfest) and at the Barrow River Arts Festival. In Autumn 2014 Camerata Kilkenny toured (funded by a Touring and Dissemination of Work award from the Arts Council of Ireland) to critical acclaim throughout Ireland with German soprano Anja Pöche performing in Cork, Kilkenny, Dublin, Galway and Waterford.

In 2015 Camerata Kilkenny was Ensemble in Residence at Kilkenny Arts Festival taking part in sell out per-formances of Bach’s B minor Mass, the Brandenburg Concertos, the ‘Great Concertos’ and the Musical Offering. Maya Homburger and Malcolm Proud performed all six of Bach’s sonatas for violin and harpsi-chord and Malcolm Proud gave an organ recital of Clavier Übung Bk. 3 in St. Canice’s Cathedral. Maya Homburger performed the Sonatas and Partitas of J.S. Bach in a late night concert in candle light in the Black Abbey. At the 2016 Kilkenny Arts Festival Camerata Kilkenny appeared with the English tenor Mark Padmore performing Bach cantatas and instrumental music. Earlier in 2016 they also performed at the Mantova Chamber Music Festival in Italy and the ‘Wege durch das Land’ Festival in Hameln, Germany. In Autumn 2016 they toured a programme entitled ‘The Piper and the Faerie Queen’ with the great Uilleann Piper David Power, with support from the Arts Council of Ireland’s Touring Award, to Sligo, Waterford, Dublin, Kilkenny and Cork. In 2018 Camerata Kilkenny perform at festivals in Ireland, Finland, Belgium, Germany, Italy, Austria and Switzerland. They will record a CD of the Piper and the Faerie Queen on the RTE Lyric FM label and Arias by J.S. Bach alongside Swedish folk hymns with Swedish soprano Maria Keo-hane on the Maya Recordings label.